DECEMBER EDITORIAL

A Mile In Their Shoes?

My mother, while she lived, was always a sympathetic person. She tried not to pre-judge others and usually based her opinons upon her own experience. She was highly critical of bigots and close-minded people. She passed away in 1992, before her beloved Blue Jays won their first World Series, and long before 9/11. I wonder how she would feel now about her oft-given advice, "Judge not - lest Ye be judged!" or "Think of those starving children in India!" or "Never mock the afflicted!" or today's subject, "Do not condemn a man until you have walked a mile in his shoes!"

As I sit here in front of my home computer, with the entire planet laid out on the screen in front of me, I am able to communicate, and even interact with, most of the population of the civilized world. I know that there are many people who do not know where their next meal will come from. My daily struggle is not to fill my belly, but to prevent it from becoming overfull, again and again. There are people who shiver in the cold while I turn up my thermostat to the mid twenties (Celcius) to keep away any trace of a chill while I surf the Internet for a better deal on flights to warmer destinations and sunny climes for what I might consider a well-deserved winter holiday.

There are people who share their bodies with intestinal parasites daily and have never seen an un-contaminated glass of water, while I let the shower run to warm up the water for five minutes while I shave in one of the two sinks. There are people who worry about keeping a fire going for minimal heat and poor light while I flip on switches (and forget to turn them off) and worry about a few pennies difference in the price of the gasoline I burn up in my $30,000.00 van or about keeping the price of electricity down to a few cents per kilowatt hour, or whether I gained or lost on my investments and mutual funds today.

I read about the threat of global terrorism and am determined to support the American effort to eradicate this scourge. But, every once in a while, I hear my mother's voice in my head. How can anyone be so devoted to a religious cause that he or she would gladly sacrifice themselves, not for its advancement but for its preservation? (I won't even get off my ass to go to church on a Sunday) How could I possibly hope to "walk in the shoes" of an Israeli schoolchild getting ready to board a bus? How can I expect to feel empathy for people whose very existence is under constant attack, when I have never known a moment of strife in my entire lifetime? I have become a spectator in the arena of life. I watch reality television. Who will be the sole survivor?  Perhaps you are like me, perhaps you are not, but I will sound this warning anyway.

History does repeat itself, and those who choose to ignore the lessons of history, do so at their peril. I have reached the point where I can communicate with my dog by imitating her favorite barking sounds. I now have more in common with my pet, than I do with 70% of the humans living on this planet. Like the ancient Romans, I sit in my comfortable seat, whining about my trivial concerns, while the world is destroying itself on the floor of the arena for my amusement. Rome did not fall from the efforts of the barbarians outside the gates, but from the callous indifference of the citizens within.
By the way, Merry Christmas to all, Peace on Earth - Goodwill to Mankind!

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Page created by : James Richard Hughes

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